In today’s post: Learn how to make a cool explosion box full of photos and notes for a fun DIY gift.
Last week my husband and I celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary. We aren’t usually big on celebrating anniversaries (in fact we both forgot our anniversary last year!) but since this is a big one we’re planning a trip to Costa Rica in a few months. I am so excited and so nervous, so if you’ve ever been to Costa Rica tell me all about it in the comments! Because we have the trip coming up, we weren’t going to buy gifts this year, so instead I made him an explosion box full of photos.
DIY Explosion Box
An explosion box is made from sheets of cardstock that nest inside each other. When it’s folded up and the lid is on top, it looks like a normal gift box.
But when you take off the lid the layers “explode” to reveal photos, notes, and other decorations. I’ve seen lots of explosion boxes online, but had never made one of my own before. It was really fun to put together.
An explosion gift box looks complicated, but it’s actually not that hard to construct. I’ve created a printable cutting and scoring guide for you that will tell you how big to make each layer. The cutting guide also comes with a template to make the hearts in the corners of the base layer. Additionally, I have a printable template for the lid to minimize the amount of measuring you need to do. Finally, I’ve made a step-by-step instructional video so you can see exactly how to put it all together.
Explosion Box Video
Photos don’t really do an explosion box justice, so if you’d like to see my box in action, you can start by watching this quick video:
Explosion Box Supplies
To create an explosion gift box, you’ll need the following supplies:
- 12×12 inch solid colored cardstock (one for each layer)
- 12×12 or 8.5×11 inch printed cardstock (for the lid)
- Adhesive
- Paper trimmer with scoring blade OR another way to trim + score cardstock
- Photos
- Embellishments (optional: this is a good time to pull out any scrapbook supplies you have tucked away!)
Explosion Box Printable Templates
Before you begin, you’ll want to print the following:
Explosion Box Cutting + Scoring Chart
Explosion Box Lid Template (print directly onto the back of your lid cardstock)
Be sure to print each of these templates at 100% or full size. There’s a test square on each one that should measure exactly 1 inch.
The Cutting Guide gives dimensions for up to 7 layers for your box. I made my box with 3 layers, using the dimensions highlighted in yellow on the guide. But you can include as many layers as you’d like in your box! A seven layer box would allow you to include LOTS of photos, notes and other memorabilia.
Please note that the Cutting Guide shows two numbers for each layer: the first number tells you how big the sheet of cardstock should be (square). The second number tells you how far from each edge you will measure in and score. It also includes cutting dimensions for the lid in case you don’t want to use the printable template.
Explosion Box Instructional Video
All the instructions for making your own explosion gift box are included in the video below. (If you cannot see a video, that’s probably because you have an ad blocker on. Either turn off your ad blocker or whitelist this site in order to be able to view the video. You will have to watch a short advertisement before the video will load – annoying, I know. But these ads allow me to continue providing hundreds of tutorials and videos free of charge. Thank you!)
Decorating your Explosion Box
Once you have the box put together, this is what it will look like:
Lots of areas to decorate! I chose to keep my box fairly simple, just adding photos, notes, and a couple of premade notecards from scrapbook section of the craft store, but you can be as elaborate as you’d like.
For my photos, I cut them 1/4 inch smaller than the “score” measurement for each layer. That means the photos on the bottom layer are 3.75 inches square, the ones on the middle layer are 3.25 inches square, and the ones on the top layer are 2.75 inches square.
I added a couple of “interactive” elements in my box as well. I folded a strip of cardstock accordion style. It can be opened up to reveal small photos of each of our kids.
I also cut another strip of printed cardstock and folded it around some old photos of me and my husband that I printed out at wallet size. I tied it with twine and glued the whole thing onto the base layer of the box.
You can add as many (or as few) interactive elements as you’d like. You can find lots of videos and tutorials online that will give you ideas. This tutorial shows lots of different boxes, pockets, and other interactive elements along with cutting and folding dimensions. This video doesn’t include a tutorial, but gives LOTS of fun ideas.
For more handmade gift ideas, visit these posts:
The biggest list of Photo Gifts
25 Handmade Gifts you can make in 15 minutes or less
How to make personalized photo candles
Jennifer Guzmán says
Hello! Can someone tell me the score for the lid please? I’m having trouble with that😣 can’t see the score in the pictures and I’m doing it 11×8.5 inch
Jane says
Hiii 😀
I’m so happy that I’ve found this page! I want to make this box for our 2 years anniversary to my boyfriend. I have some questions. What do you mean by “score” e.g. score 4″??
And what are the measurements for the photos? And to be sure that 12 inches equals to 30.48 cm it?
I hope you can help me. Thanks 😀
Ayana Hyberger says
Hello I hope this isn’t reaching you too late!
Score 4″ means to score a straight line every 4 inches so that on your 12x12in paper you can create nine 4x4in squares. You will score every 4 inches in one direction then turn your paper and repeat to create a grid.
“Score” refers to creating marks for ease of folding on the paper using what’s called a “bone folder” or something similar. You can usually find them for a couple dollars at any your local craft stores. These scoring marks make it easy to fold thicker papers and materials without them creasing and tearing. There are many tutorials on YouTube that show you the correct way to use these bone folders.
Sheena says
Hi, I don’t know how others have managed but I can’t get rid of the vertical left hand advertisement that just stays on the page, making half the screen unreadable. What do I need to do?
Autumn Baldwin says
Sorry about this Sheena, that shouldn’t be happening. Are you viewing on mobile or desktop? If you can give me a little more info I can have my ad company look into it.
Jo Smith says
Thank you so much for this wonderful idea and tutorial. It is my 20th wedding anniversary this year and i usually make a hand made card but wanted to do one a little more special. So happy to come across your page and you made something that looks complicated very easy. The hardest part was choosing the photos! Thank you again. Really looking forward to surprising my husband with it.
ikwords says
Hello, thank you so much for this tutorial! It was easier than I thought it would be, but still a little bit of a challenge, in a good way. I filled it with scenes from my brother’s favorite show, and I’m going to give it to him tonight, his birthday.
Tip: If you don’t have the scoring/cutting thing she used, I used a paper cutter. First, I (obviously) used the blade to cut when I needed, and then I used the ruler provided and scored. The way I scored was, there are grooves on the paper cutter that are 1/2 inch apart and they make a grid, so after lining the paper up properly I slid a small paperclip along the line a few times. It worked quite well, although it took longer than what Autumn used.
Jayla says
I just did this exact thing and felt pretty darn clever !!!
Tamikka says
Hi
What size photos do I print for this project.
verginia johnson says
I am looking forward to making this craft Idea. something to do since we are on lock down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I am wondering it there was just a print of instructions itself without all the comments and advertisements being printed?! Or did I miss something when it came to the print out button? Anyway, thank you for providing such an amazing craft idea 😉 can’t wait to make them with my granddaughter.
Erika Nelson says
What size pictures did you do for each layer? I would really like to do this for my boyfriend for our 1 year
Stephanie says
Great tutorial. Just a note that the template for the lid is a little off. I couldn’t understand why mine would not line up correctly so I measured it. The fold lines closest to the bottom of the page are further in than the other lines. Once adjusted it worked great.
Thanks
Denise says
Is it possible to purchase the template for the box? I have found it difficult to understand just the chart.
Many thanks
Denise
Bev says
I just love this!!! I missed out on the scrapbooking craze because I had children who would not stay out of my craft supplies after school, before I got home. So I gave up all crafts 15+ years ago and have to start acquiring supplies again now that they are all grow and and on their own.
What I would like to know, what is that tool that you are using to both score and cut? What is it called, who makes it, etc? As I have no idea as to what to even search for and it seems like it would fulfill several purposes, and keep me from buying some unnecessary duplicates.
Thanks for the great tutorial!
Amy J says
I was happy to find this tutorial, too! I am pulling out things I’ve had tucked away for a looong time now that my kids are mostly grown. I’m getting back into crafting, myself. Did you ever find a tool, Bev? I once had a Fiskars cutting tool for which blades could be changed from cutting to scoring blades. It just popped in/out. I hope you have enjoyed crafting again, Bev!
Lori G says
That is awesome! Thanks for sharing all your wonderful ideas. Love your patterns too.
Julie beckaus says
Hello i make explosion boxes 12×12 base can you please tell me what size to make my lid
N/A says
12×12 or 8.5×11 inch printed cardstock (for the lid)
Lynette says
Oh, Autumn, I am so glad you made the Explosion Box doable! My husband and I will celebrate our 49th (!!!) anniversary this summer, and I think this will be a perfect gift for him. Not only that, but because of the timing of your post, I have a few months to gather items to include in the box. I am a scrapbooker, so supplies are no problem! Thanks so much for this tutorial…and I don’t mind watching the ad so that you can include this valuable instruction for free.
As far as Costa Rica goes, I have no experience to guide you! I’ve only been to Canada, Mexico and a few countries in Europe, so I’m not very well traveled. The only “advice” I would give is that you not stress about the preparations and packing; relaxing and enjoying yourselves is the most important part of the trip! Have fun!
autumn says
Thanks Lynette! And congratulations on 49 years!
Jeanniene Baker says
I know this post is old but can you please tell me the measurements for the accordion style photo album of your children, please?